An issue in Network & System Management (NSM) relates to the need to manage Business Services within the managed world of a business IT infrastructure. A Business Service is a specific example of a topology pattern within the business IT infrastructure. As noted above, a business IT infrastructure is an example of a managed world. A Business Service represents a set of cooperating technology components enabling the operation of a specific function within the Business. It can include multiple topology layers, including, Networks, Protocols, Servers, Operating Systems, Databases, Queuing, Web Servers, Information Models, Processes etc.
It should be noted that the term Business refers to any type of business and is not restricted to commercial or any other specific types of business. For example, business could mean a financial operation (commercial banks, investment banks, trading companies, etc). On the other hand, business could also mean a technical operation. For example, a chemical or a biotechnological process could be a business.
It should be clear to a skilled artisan that an application, for example, a biotech process, could be modeled as a managed world. In such a case, the topology layers could also include the components (topology objects) of the biotech molecule. All such applications are also contemplated to be within the scope of the disclosed teachings.
In short, the disclosed teachings could be used in any field of application, including but not limited to scientific, commercial, etc, where a topology graph (as the term is used in graph theory) can be used to model (or represent components in) the application.
1. Definitions
To better understand the teachings in this disclosure, a set of definitions are provided herein:                Managed World==any self-contained environment that can be described using a topology model        Topology Layer==a sub-set of topology objects within the Managed World having a common classification        Topology Pattern==a unique architecture of topology classes within a managed world inclusive of all connections and interdependencies (e.g., a business service)        Event==some change that occurs in the Managed World        Topology Object==any member of a class that exists within the topology of the Managed World        Viewing Layer==a two-dimensional arrangement of topology objects for the purpose of viewing by a user        
In this context, managing a Business IT Infrastructure as a representative example of a managed world includes at least the following functions:                1. Discovery and population of the Information Technology (IT) components and the relationships between them.        2. Recognition of all the relevant components of each topology pattern. As noted above, this includes all the topology layers including those related to hardware, software and components.        3. Viewing of the objects with the topology pattern inclusive of all relationships.        4. Monitoring the topology objects Performance and Availability.        5. Remotely control the topology objects within the Business IT Infrastructure.        
Any topology information system (TIS) should solve the first three functions including discovery, recognition and viewing of topology objects and topology patterns within the managed world. The disclosed techniques are aimed at implementing a Topology Information System as well as other functions that provide a comprehensive solution for such applications as Business Service Management.
Potential users for such a system include, but are not limited to: Enterprises, Telecommunication companies, Service Providers, Business Service Management Solution Vendors, Management Application Vendors, Management Service Providers, Integrators, Scientists and the Intelligence community.